Taiwan recently blocked several batches of U.S. avocados from entering the country due to cadmium levels exceeding local regulations.

Taiwanese organizations Chiawei Enterprise Co. and Ourmart Marketing Co. imported 2,531.2 kg and 1,265.6 kg of avocados, respectively, from the United States. The country blocked the motion and said it would increase the sampling rate requirements for the companies involved to between 20% and 50%. 

California produces the majority of the United States' avocados, accounting for nearly 90% of the country's total production. Florida and Hawaii account for the rest.

Ken Melban, Vice President of Industry Affairs and Operations at the California Avocado Commission, and Tim Spann, the Research Program consultant for the California Avocado Commission, spoke with Freshfruitportal.com about Taiwan's decision to reject nearly 4,000 kg of avocados, and why they're cautious about cadmium. 

According to the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), cadmium is a "soft, malleable, bluish white metal found in zinc ores and, to a much lesser extent, in the cadmium mineral greenockite." The UK Health Security Agency says the metal is widely distributed in the Earth’s crust (soil and rocks), air, and water. 

Tim Spann explained that cadmium naturally exists in the soil and can be found in higher concentrations, particularly along the world's Pacific Rim, including the U.S. West Coast, South American West Coast, and the East Coast of Asia. 

The metal can be found in the soil, and therefore in fruits and vegetables. The level in the fruit varies "depending on factors like the type of fruit, the growing environment, and whether the fruit is fresh, processed, or dried."

Ken Melban quoted the World Health Organization's cadmium human level tolerance to explain that Southeast Asian Countries have what he would almost call "any detectable level of tolerance."

This statement was backed by Spann, who explained that an 8-oz avocado meets Taiwan's detection threshold, but in order to meet the WHO's tolerable monthly level intake, 25 micrograms per kilogram body weight, a 165-pound male would have to consume 990 lb of avocados per year, or 2.7 lbs per day. 

"500,000 times lower than the 25 micrograms per kilogram of body weight that the WHO sets," Spann explained. "And that is assuming that every piece of fruit consumed had that level of cadmium in it," Melban added.

When asked why cadmium is such a concern for the country, Spann response was rice. 

"We presume that because rice is a hyper accumulator of cadmium and such a high portion of Asian countries' diets, particularly Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, that they're much more acutely aware of it being in the produce that they're eating and in their diet," he explained. "This is just a general requirement rather than a per-food basis."

In a World Health Organization report on the dangers of high levels of cadmium, the organization highlighted that "some crops, such as rice, can accumulate high concentrations of cadmium if grown on cadmium-polluted soil." 

"They have set the same threshold for other crops as well," he explains. 

Taiwan has seized U.S. avocados before. In 2021, several news organizations, including the Taiwan Times and Taipei Times, reported that two U.S. avocado shipments were seized at the border due to elevated levels of cadmium. Both were from California. The avocados were also either returned to their country of origin or destroyed. In 2022, Taiwan rejected or destroyed 28 shipments of U.S. agricultural products. 

Melban explained he wouldn't have any concerns eating those avocados because they're low threshold, but still higher than what they want. "I can't argue against that, but we're not the only country or only commodity that has dealt with instances of cadmium occurring." 

In the later instances, Taiwan has also rejected imports from Thailand, Canada, Indonesia, and China due to cadmium.

Melban said, "We do our own testing out in the groves and the trees, and the packers that are going to ship the fruit do that too, but unless you're testing every single piece of fruit, which is not doable because you wouldn't have any fruit left, it's also a bit of a needle in the haystack issue." 

"It's not prevalent, it's not widespread. It's random," he added. "It's random and it's the best system you got, and you could get a positive as they did, but it doesn't mean the whole load had a lot of cadmium because we work had to make sure that the fruit doesn't have cadmium present at all when it goes out for commercial distribution." 

When asked if this is a conversation between countries, he said he assumes there are.

"It's business, so I'm assuming there absolutely are — nobody looks to send fruit over that doesn't get accepted, and nobody looks to bring fruit over that doesn't get accepted, nobody wants to see the commercial channels disrupted," he explained.

We tried reaching out to the importers and have not received a response.